I’m a former air traffic controller. The entire system is being stressed and the government needs to do more.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Todd Sheridan Yeary, a pastor and former air traffic controller who left the job in 2002 and is now based in Baltimore. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I spent 13 years as an air traffic controller before pivoting my career. It’s a well-paid but very stressful job.

Many dynamics can change your shift altogether. On a normal cloudy day, if a thunderstorm starts, it could get tense — you can’t control the weather and must respond in real time.

There’s heightened pressure when responding to constantly changing situations. If there’s an aircraft incident or a midair collision — which are rare but shocking — the responsiveness needed takes hyperfocus.

Additionally, the government needs to do more than pay lip service to the needs of the National Airspace System to sustain this field.

Some controllers are adrenaline junkies — we like the pressure

I grew up in a house with two air traffic control parents, which influenced my decision to enter the field.

After passing an air traffic control civil service test and completing 10 weeks of training, I chose to work at the FAA Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center since my stepmother was working there, and my father and I worked together in the same area for almost six years.

I enjoy busy periods, like when I lined up the planes going into O’Hare and Midway, but air traffic controllers need time to recuperate. In today’s environment, some controllers work up to a mandatory six-day week with overtime, and there’s little reset time available.

Pay is determined by the complexity of the facility you’re assigned to. At the end of my career, my base was over six figures annually. With overtime, it’s possible to make double that.

Each day has a baseline of predictability, but there’s always uncertainty

The midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January is a complicated analysis. When these events occur, air traffic controllers must respond immediately to ensure that the incidents don’t cause other incidents. You rely on your training much more when things are shifting than when things are routine.

We can’t minimize the significance of these incidents, but we also can’t lose sight of the reality that the National Airspace System (even with tech and staffing challenges) is still safe. We still can’t take that safety for granted — there is a tipping point.

I think it’s safe to fly into Newark Airport right now

The reduction of flights into Newark Liberty International Airport is partly due to concerns about equipment, but the most active runway at Newark is out of service until next month due to runway improvements.

That alone requires the number of flights to be reduced to avoid potential safety issues. Airline demand has still been growing, and companies are often resistant to cutting back on slots at major airports and airline hubs.

There have been countless stressful moments in my career

I was working on 9/11, and we had to clear the airspace over the US immediately. That meant something as simple as telling a commercial flight that may have left DC for LA that it needed to land in Moline, Illinois.

If the pilots said, “That’s not on our flight plan,” we might counter that it was an emergency. If they refused, we had instructions to notify our military counterpart, the National Guard fighter jets, to escort commercial planes to the ground during an unprecedented national emergency.

Some pilots initially questioned the instructions, but the available information was changing quickly. Between ATC communications and airline flight dispatchers, we kept military interdictions and escorts to a minimum.

There’s a shortage of controllers and the system’s safety is being stressed

The job is exciting, the controllers are dedicated, and the training is rigorous. However, much more intentional effort is needed for this field to continue to be rewarding.

There’s a shortage of air traffic controllers, and others are pending retirement. If the government doesn’t step in, you may see more controllers going out on disability because the system’s safety is being stressed, and the controllers are being pushed beyond their limits.

I started pastoring a small church in 2001, and I decided to leave my job in air traffic control in 2002 because my congregation needed more of my attention. I moved to Baltimore in 2007 to pastor Douglas Memorial Community Church. I thought I might return one day, but the opportunity never presented itself.

Do you have a story to share about working as an air traffic controller? Contact this editor at [email protected].

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